Ravenna gets revenge vs. Sutton
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By GENE COTTER For the Lincoln Journal Star
As if the Class C-2 state volleyball semifinals weren’t enough motivation for top-ranked Ravenna, the Blue Jays took to the court against No. 4 Sutton with some extra fire.
Earlier this season, the Fillies threw a wet blanket over homecoming festivities at Ravenna with a sweep that sent the Blue Jays to 4-2 on the year and started their three-game skid.
Thanks to seniors Madison Pernicek and Mallory Irvine, homecoming week can now be forgotten.
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Mallory Irvine, Ravenna: Madison Pernicek may have led Ravenna with 22 kills Friday, but fellow senior Irvine made sure her presence was felt from several different parts of the Blue Jays' attack. Irvine, who hammered 12 kills, added three blocks and three aces. Just for good measure, she also added an assist.
Insider
Despite having just 14 errors through the first two sets against Sutton, Ravenna piled up 12 alone while dropping the third set to the Fillies.
"We have a tendency to come out in the third set, lay back and not be ready," Pernicek said. "We were ready in the fourth set."
Ravenna made just six more errors in the fourth set in securing the win.
Saturday's final
Ravenna vs. Cambridge: Ravenna is looking for its first title in five trips to state after finishing as runner-up in both 2003 and 2005. Cambridge, which is making its eighth state appearance, is also looking for its first Class C-2 crown. The Trojans, who won Class C-1 in 1993, were C-2 runners-up in 2007.
Pernicek slammed 22 kills and Irvine added 12 to lead the Blue Jays to a 25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 25-17 win Friday at Lincoln High.
“They wanted revenge. It was payback time,” Ravenna coach Korina Wick said.
As Pernicek and Irvine hammered away, Ravenna cruised to a two-set lead. Pernicek recorded seven kills in each of the first two sets, while Irvine added eight kills, three aces and two blocks during the same stretch to put the Blue Jays firmly in control.
“They’re good. They have so many weapons it’s hard to stop all of them,” Sutton sophomore Jamie Van Kirk said. “They just played awesome. Their serve-receive was incredible and we had trouble with their serve.”
Vanessa Van Kirk and Jamie Van Kirk recorded 14 and 12 kills, respectively, including three apiece in the third set. But five more kills from Pernicek and three each from Irvine and Ashley Kulwicki — when combined with four Ravenna aces — were enough to put the Blue Jays over the top.
Ravenna will face unranked Cambridge (20-11) in Saturday’s final. The Trojans, who posted their 12th straight win, advanced with a 25-18, 25-13, 25-16 win against No. 9 Johnson-Brock.
While Jordan Broady did all she could to help the Eagles (27-7) stay close to Cambridge, too many errors, along with too much Traci Keyser, added up to too much Cambridge for Johnson-Brock.
“Our passing just went out the window,” Johnson-Brock coach Cory Starner said. “Once the passing went it really took the wind out of our sails.”
Broady finished with five kills, three blocks and a pair of aces for the Eagles, who battled Cambridge tooth-and-nail for much of set one and grabbed a big lead in set two before faltering.
Keyser finished with 12 kills and four blocks, while Frankie Petersen had eight kills, four blocks and pair of aces.
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